


comfort in the cold

by mercu



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-19
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2018-02-09 14:04:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1985718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercu/pseuds/mercu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>written for a prompt: "Jetko & 2 (in the snow) and maybe also 14 (first kiss) if you can fit it in? c:"</p><p>Zuko takes a trip to briefly escape the confines of the royal palace and happens upon an old acquaintance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	comfort in the cold

**Author's Note:**

> a hundred thanks to stefanie for encouragement and proof reading

Ruling a nation isn't easy and sometimes Zuko needs to take a break.

When that time comes, he dons a set of old traveling clothes, lets his hair fall loose from the royal topknot and escapes the palace for a few days, leaving the rule in Mai's capable hands. The trips help him refocus on what's important. Keep him grounded.

He doesn't schedule. Sometimes, his travels are only weeks apart; at other times years pass before he needs to center himself again.

Two weeks after uncle Iroh crosses to the spirit world, fourteen months after Zuko's last vacation, he decides to depart again. With no clear destination in mind, he allows Druk to pick his own flight path.

After a few hours, the dragon chooses a landing spot next to the woods somewhere on Earth Kingdom soil, seemingly remote and isolated from most traces of civilization. Zuko nimbly slips off his back and pets the scaly face with affection. “I'll see you in a few days, my friend.” Druk rumbles and huffs, enveloping him in a puff of warm air, before spreading his massive wings and taking off once again to tend to whatever business dragons tend to.

The warm cloud dissipates, leaving only the late autumn chill in the air, and Zuko shudders, wrapping his cloak tight around himself for a moment. It's always warm in the Fire Nation. He tends to forget that it's not the case about other places.

 

-

 

After setting up camp, Zuko practices his bending forms for a while. He's a bit rusty. The lordly duties leave him with little time to exercise. Later, he takes a long walk through the forest, enjoying the peace and quiet. The solitude is refreshing.

The illusion of tranquility shatters when he returns to his camping site and finds a stranger lounging next to his tent. The paranoia ingrained by multiple assassination attempts has him immediately slipping into a fighting stance and reaching for the dao at his back, even though the other man looks neither hostile nor dangerous. In response, the intruder raises his empty hands in a gesture of surrender. “Hey, easy.” The man smirks and Zuko frowns, not feeling reassured in the least. “I come in peace. I just wanted to warn you that you picked a bad time for camping. There's a snowfall coming.”

Zuko's frown deepens as he glances at the sky. It's mostly cloudless. “How can you be so sure?” He asks, eyeing his uninvited guest. There's something familiar about him, but that's not necessarily a good thing. He's made plenty of enemies through the years.

The stranger shrugs. “I've lived here for a while.” He offers, as if that explains everything. “Whether you believe me or not is up to you. But if you stay here, you'll get snowed in.” He eyes Zuko's tent critically. “This flimsy thing of yours is not made for that kind of weather. You should plan your trips more carefully.” Brown eyes meet his golden ones, and for some reason, Zuko's stomach flutters. Some incomprehensible instinct causes his hand to fall away from the hilt and his body to relax the stance. The stranger's crooked smirk turns into a genuine smile and he stands up before gesturing somewhere to his right. “I live nearby. You can wait out the snowfall at my place if you want.”

Zuko's mind is wary, reluctant to trust a stranger, but his body is already moving, breaking camp, and before he knows it, he's following this dark skinned man. Somewhere along the way, the first snowflake falls and melts in his hair.

 

-

 

By the time they reach a small house, the ground is completely covered by a thin layer of snow and Zuko is shivering under his thin cloak. The man ushers him inside and then immediately moves to fuss with the fireplace. Zuko remains standing by the door, dripping snow water onto the wooden floor. His gaze sweeps over the room, until it comes across a pair of familiar twin hooks propped up against the wall.

His eyes widen and he takes a step back towards the door. “I'm afraid I can't take advantage of your hospitality.” He says softly, turning around.

He's already outside when a set of warm fingers closes around his wrist. “Li! Li, wait!” The sound of that name stops him short, the hand he was about to tug away freezing mid-motion. He swallows and slowly turns around, preparing for a confrontation-but unlike the last time they saw each other, Jet's face doesn't look angry or hateful. If anything, it's sad, although there's a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

For some time, they just stand in the falling snow, staring at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Finally, Jet sighs and lets go of his wrist, then runs a hand through his hair. “Would you- would you please just come inside? Our clothes are going to soak through.”

 

-

 

They end up in front of the fireplace, Zuko staring at the flames and Jet staring at Zuko. He doesn't seem inclined to break the silence this time, so after a while Zuko gives up and speaks first. “How did you know it was me?”

Jet shrugs and grins. “How could I not? You have a pretty memorable face.” Zuko turns his burned side away wincing and Jet's smile falters. “I didn't mean it in a bad way.” He offers apologetically. Zuko takes a deep breath.

“I know you didn't.”

For a time, the silence awkwardly stretches between them again. Zuko considers walking out once more, but before he can make up his mind, Jet speaks up. “So you were a fire bender after all, huh.” He states it so matter-of-factly that Zuko is momentarily dumbstruck. He wonders where all the rage he's seen in the other man the last time had gone, but he doesn't push the issue.

He sees no point in lying this time, though. “I'm a lot more than that.” He breathes. “How can you tell?”

“I saw you doing the forms earlier.”

That startles him. “You saw-” Jet nods before Zuko can finish the question. “Why didn't you come out then?”

The grin slips onto Jet's face again. “I was enjoying the view too much to interrupt.” Zuko frowns at that. It's... Strange, this new found, easy acceptance.

He finally turns his face to look Jet in the eye. “What happened to you?”

Jet's face turns serious. He pulls a stalk of grass from-from _somewhere-_ and sticks it in his mouth before answering. “I guess I grew up.” Zuko continues to stare at him expectantly, so Jet crosses his arms and looks away. “Look, I know it might be hard to believe, but... I _changed_.” He smiles humorlessly before continuing. “I know that I used to say that a lot, but this time I really mean it.” He chews on the stalk for a moment. “A while after- after I attacked you and your uncle, I got hurt, badly.” Zuko nods. He thought Jet was _dead_. “It took me some time to recover. And by the time I did, everything was different. The whole world was different. There was no place in it for the angry kid that I was back then. So I had to adapt.” His eyes are half-lidded and his hands clench into fists, and for a moment Jet looks lost in memories. “It took me years. Decades, really. To let go of all that.”

After that confession, they lapse into silence again, but it's not as oppressive this time. Eventually, Jet speaks again. “Your real name isn't Li, is it?” Zuko simply shakes his head. “Will you tell me?”

Zuko prepares for the fallout as the words leave his mouth. “It's Zuko.”

Jet's eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. “Zuko? Like the Fire Lord?” He pauses and then, the realization dawns. “YOU are the Fire Lord?” He stands up and looms above him. Zuko cringes. This is precisely what he'd been trying to avoid.

“I'd better go.” He mumbles, standing up as well, but to his surprise, Jet's expression goes from shock to something that almost resembles panic as he steps into Zuko's way.

“No! No, no, don't go. It's not-” His mouth works silently for a moment but no words come out, until he finally seemingly collects himself. “It's okay, alright? It's okay. I can handle it. I just- I just need a moment.”

So Zuko stays.

 

-

 

“So if you're the Fire Lord, what are you doing here?” Jet finally asks.

Zuko sighs. “I needed to take a break. It's... _Tiring_.”

Jet raises a skeptical eyebrow. “Tiring.”

Zuko gives him a rueful smile. “Try ruling a nation some day, and you'll understand.”

Jet grunts at that. “Fair enough. But aren't you afraid something could happen while you're gone?” He pauses and considers for a moment. “Are Fire Lords even allowed to go on vacation?”

Zuko can't help laughing out loud. “Mai-my wife-takes over when I'm gone. I think she hates it even more than me, but she makes a good ruler.”

A strange look crosses Jet's features, something that might be longing or disappointment, but it disappears too quickly for Zuko to get a good look. “A wife, huh?” He chews the grass blade for a while. Then he sets his jaw. “Tell me about her?”

Zuko considers the question, a small frown creasing his brow. Speaking _with_ Mai has gotten easier as time went by, but talking _about_ her is still difficult, and perhaps even a little painful. “She's... Quiet. And when she does speak, it's usually to complain.” He smiles to his memories, equal parts regret and affection. “But she's also very smart and capable. One of the best fighters I know. Stubborn, too. Can you believe she wouldn't stop working out even when she was pregnant, up until the very last couple of months?” He shakes his head. “She's a ridiculous woman. But she's also a great friend.”

It seems to take Jet aback. “A great _friend_? Your _wife_... Is a great _friend_? That's an unusual way to word it.”

Zuko shrugs uncomfortably. “That's the way it is. We haven't really been _together_ for a long time. We didn't annul the marriage because it was easier on both of us and our daughter, but... What we are is just friends. Good friends, but still just friends.” He looks down at his hands when he feels a sting of pain and realizes they are tightly clenched, nails digging into his palms. He take a deep breath to regain composure and relaxes his fists. When he looks up at Jet again, the other man is staring at him intently. Zuko startles and draws back. It reminds him too much of the way Jet glared at him all those years ago in uncle's teashop.

“Do you love her?” Jet asks quietly, but there's a seriousness to his voice that Zuko doesn't know what to make of.

He once more steadies himself with a deep breath and shakes his head. “No. I used to, a long time ago. But... We were never really happy together.” There's no tears but his eyes are stinging and he has to look down again. There's an exhale next to him that sounds suspiciously like a sigh of relief, and then Jet's breath ghosts over his ear.

“Good.”

Zuko snaps his head up, and Jet is right there, right in front of him, crowding into his space, and then Jet's mouth is suddenly pressing against his own, first lightly, and then more insistently. More out of reflex and surprise than anything else, Zuko opens his lips and Jet's tongue surges forward to meet his own.

His eyes slip shut and his fingers scramble blindly for purchase, finally settling on Jet's shoulders as Jet's hands come to rest at the back of his head and then for a while, there's only the sound of the crackling fire, the heat of their mouths sliding together, the rough material of Jet's clothes under his palms and Jet's fingers carding through his hair.

When they break away after several seconds, they are both panting hard and fast. “What...” Zuko starts, his voice raspy, and then trails off. He's not sure what question he's trying to ask. Belatedly, he realizes that his hands are still resting on Jet's arms and lets them fall away to his sides.

Jet exhales a shaky breath. “You have no idea how much I've wanted to do that, back when we were on that ferry.” He hisses, and then pulls away further and scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. “...I understand if you want to leave now.”

Zuko blinks at him. “You... You kiss me like _that_ and expect me to just _leave_?” Jet grimaces and looks away like a scolded child. Zuko sighs. Then he pulls Jet into another kiss.

After, Jet looks a him with an expression that manages to be both bewildered and cheeky. Zuko sprawls lazily in front of the fire, all too aware of the hungry eyes following his every move. “I suppose we should talk.”

Jet's expression falters. “ _Talk?_ ” Zuko smirks at him.

“And then we can do more of that.”

Jet visibly perks up at that. “Do you want some tea?”

Zuko nods graciously. As Jet is getting up, he adds, as an afterthought. “Jasmine, if you have any. It's my favorite.”


End file.
